This invention relates to a machine that simulates a human boxer by throwing punches at a user and receiving punches thrown by the user in return.
The need for continued aerobic exercise is essential in order to maintain cardiovascular fitness and muscle tone and to prevent weight gain. Those whose normal activities do not provide sufficient exercise to meet these needs must engage in a regular exercise program which does. However, home exercises are by nature repetitive and thus quickly become boring for most people. As a result, it becomes difficult to continue with a home exercise program and many people fail to exercise on a regular basis even after having spent a considerable sum for equipment which facilitates the process.
The present invention provides an exercise device which not only permits the user to achieve a high level of aerobic activity but does so in a manner which most people find entertaining, and which by its very nature motivates people to continue its use on a regular basis.
This is accomplished by providing a machine which looks like a boxer and throws punches repeatedly when in operation and which can be punched by the user in return, without injury to either the machine or the user. The user must continue to remain in motion when using the machine or be hit. Furthermore, stepping away from the machine is psychologically difficult, since doing so is an admission that the machine has won. Therefore, the user will be driven to continue exercising with the machine once started, and competitive instinct will cause the user to continue to use the machine on a regular basis. By varying the speed at which the punches are thrown and the frequency at which they are repeated, the machine can be adjusted to accommodate people with a wide variety of exercise capability and boxing skill thereby allowing it to be used by almost anyone.
The machine comprises a pair of simulated arms one of which is attached to each end of a shoulder assembly by rotatable joints. The arms are divided into upper and lower portions which are joined together through hinged joints. The upper portion is a four-bar parallelogram linkage, with the extremities of both long bars having independent joints. Thus if one of these joints is moved away from the other joint the upper and lower arm portions rotate away from each other and become more horizontal and the arm is extended. On the other hand if the two joints are moved together the arm portions rotate toward one another and the arm is retracted.
Relative movement of the joints is achieved by the shoulder assembly which they are attached to having two links, one which swings upon shoulder rotation and one which remains stationary. The two shoulder links are approximately the same length but the stationary link has articulated end portions. The ends of the swinging link, which is located forwardly of the stationary link, are attached to the forward joints of the upper arm portions, and the ends of the stationary link are attached to the rearward joints of the upper arm portions. When one end of the swinging link is rotated forward the articulated end of the stationary link follows it but does not move as far forward. Thus, as one side of the shoulder is moved forward the rearward joint moves toward the forward joint and the arm is extended. As a result the device duplicates a normal punching action by simultaneously moving the arm forward at the shoulder as it is extended.
The stationary shoulder link is attached to a fixed support which is carried in an upright position by means of a base. In a first embodiment of the invention the base comprises tanks which are filled with water or sand to provide the weight necessary to stabilize the device and absorb a portion of the energy resulting from the machine throwing or receiving a punch. In a second embodiment of the invention, the base comprises an articulated support having a dampening cylinder which absorbs the punching energy. The swinging shoulder link is attached to a rotating support which is coaxial with the fixed support and which rotates relative to it. A motor, having a first sprocket driven by it, is attached to the fixed support and a second sprocket is attached to the rotating support co-planar with the first sprocket. A belt, having cleats which engage the sprockets, rotatably interconnects them. Thus, the shoulders swing clockwise, looking from above, when the motor is rotated in one direction, to extend the left arm and retract the right arm, and counter-clockwise when the motor is rotated in the other direction, to extend the right arm and retract the left arm.
A controller, which can be activated by either a microprocessor or manual controls, operates the motor in the proper direction and at the desired speed. The microprocessor also can be programmed to make the machine throw combinations of punches in predetermined patterns in order to simulate an actual boxer.
Located on the rotating support, below the shoulder, is a series of thin oblong hoops which simulate the boxer's ribs. The ribs, as well as the arms, are made of an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene and thus are strong enough to withstand a high impact without breaking and yet flexible enough not to injure the user, even when a punch makes direct contact. A simulated fist is located at the extremities of each arm and a simulated head is placed on top of the fixed support. The entire device is covered with a foam wrap, which, along with the flexibility of the ribs, allows users to hit the machine without injuring themselves.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an exercise machine which can throw punches and which can receive punches in return.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a machine in which the arms move forward and extend simultaneously when a punch is being thrown.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a machine which can be programmed to throw a prearranged series of punches or can be manually controlled to throw individual punches upon command.
The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.